Electric hair waving apparatus



1936. E. DE- LOS SANTOS ELECTRIC HAIR WAVING APPARATUS Filed March 17,1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 M Ma Z m;

ATTORNEY.

Nov. 17, 1936. E. DE LOS SANTOS ELECTRIC HAIR WAVING APPARATUS FiledMarch 17, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

,ZT'mJZeLas 56/7569 BY ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 17, 1936 j UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to an electrically heated hair waving iron andmeans for regulating or controlling the heat thereof.

This invention has for an object to provide, in connection with a hairwaving iron having electrical heating elements, a novel means forselectively connecting the iron with service circuits of either 110 or220 volts, together with meansfor regulating the current served to theiron heating elements so as to control the heat or" the iron at anypoint desired between minimum and maxi-' mum limits.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel regulating andcontrolling means which is independent of the waving iron per se,whereby.

the said means is portable and capable of being conveniently located andconnected to a house or service circuit of either 110 or 220 volts, asthe case may be, through a usual outlet, and time upon being connectedby a flexible conductor cable to the iron per se, whereby the operatormay easily and conveniently manipulate the iron, and by manipulation andsetting of the control means thereby maintain the iron at a desiredtemperature.

[another object or the invention is to provide means for visiblyindicating that the iron is being served with electric current ofdesired heating effect.

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularlyenumerated, will be understood from the following detailed descriptionof the same.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view showing in use the novel electricallyheated waving iron and means for regulating or controlling the heatthereof; and Fig. 1A is an exterior face view of the regulating orcontrolling means enlarged.

Fig. 2 is a=vertical cross section, taken on line 2-2 in Fig. 1; Fig. 3is a longitudinal section, taken on line 33 in Fig. 2, and showing thehair waving iron about to be connected with the control means; Fig. 4 isa longitudinal sectional view, taken on line 4-4 in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5is a fragmentary face view, showing means for manipulating the heatcontrol elements of the apparatus.

Similar-characters of reference are employed in the above describedviews, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, the reference character It] indicates asuitable casing for the portable regulating and control unit of theapparatus. Afiixed to the front wall ll of said casing it, which servesas a panel for mounting the elements of the regulating and control unit,is an input plug receptacle l2 having its receiving end exteriorlyexposed on the outer face of said front wall or panel ll; saidreceptacle l2 having the respective contact terminal sockets l3 and H toreceive the detachable plug contacts l5 and I6 01 a current supply cableI! which is connectible to a house or service circuit by the usual plugconnection l8 which is engageable with an outlet connection IQ of saidhouse or service circuit. Mounted on the interior side of said wall orpanel II is an annular rheostat element 20, the coils 2| of which areelectrically connected in series with corresponding fixed terminalcontact buttons 22. Journaled in and through said wall or panel I I inaxial alignment with said rheostat element Zil is a spindle 23. Fixed onthe inner end of said spindle 23 is spring leaf contact brush or arm 24,the free end of which, by rotation of said spindle, may be caused tomove across and in contact with said contact buttons 22 of the rheostatcoils 2i. Said contact brush or arm 2:3 is connected by a conductor 25with the contact socket 63 of input receptacle l2. outer end of saidspindle 23 is a rotatable dial 2t) having a finger-piece or knob 27 forturning the" same. Dial 26 is graduated around a portion of its marginalperiphery to indicate degrees of heat, e. g. from 0 to degrees; thescale thus provided being read, when the dial is turned, by reference toa fixed indicator point 28 provided adjacent thereto on the outer faceof said wall or panel l l.

Also affixed to the front wall or panel ll of casing l6 is an outputplug receptacle 29 having its receiving end exteriorly exposed on theouter face of said wall or panel. Said output'plug receptacle isprovided with a central outgoing contact terminal socket 3d, and spacedtherefrom on one side a return contact terminal socket 3i, and on theother side another return contact terminal socket 32; thus constitutingtwo pairs of sockets,

viz. fill-3i for use when the apparatus is served by volt current, and(lil32 for use when the apparatus is served by 220 volt current.

The last of the series of rheostat contact buttons- 22 is connected by aconductor 33 to said contact terminal socket 30 of said output plugreceptacle. The contact terminal socket ill is connected by a conductor34 back to the contact terminal socket M of said input plug receptacleit. The contact terminal socket 32 is connected by a conductor 35 withone pole of a secondary resistance coil 36 which is mounted on theinterior side of said wall or panel H, and the other pole of saidsecondary resistance coil 36 is connected by a conductor 37 back to thecontact terminal socket Id of said input plug receptacle l2.

The hair waving iron, in a preferred embodiment thereof, comprises amember 38 and a member 39 pivotally joined together at 40. Member 38 isprovided with a hollow tong leg 4|, and member 39 with a hollow tong leg42; said tong legs being adapted to be swung together in hair engagingrelation by manipulationof the handle Fixed on the 20 portions 4! and 44with which the same are respectively provided. Disposed within tong leg4| is a suitably constructed electrical heating unit 45, and, in likemanner, disposed within tong leg 42 is a similar electrical heating unit46. Handle portion 43 is hollow and is provided with a suitableconnection 43' for coupling thereto a flexible electrical cable 41having at its free end a plug connection 48 provided with plug contacts49 and 50 to be selectively and detachably engaged with the terminalsocket contacts of said output plug receptacle 29. One conductor of saidcable 41 leads from said plug contact 49 to join with a supply conductor5| which extends through said hollow handle portion 43 and to which onepole of each heating unit 45 and 46 is connected; a return conductor 52,connected with the other pole of each heating unit 45 and 48, extendsthrough said hollow handle portion 43 to connect with the otherconductor of said cable 41 which leads back to the plug contact 50.

Mounted on the exterior of said wall or panel i l is a signal or pilotlamp 53 which is connected in series with the rheostat device, so as tobe served therethrough from the source of current supply. This signal orpilot lamp will light when the apparatus is in use, and will not onlyshow that current is being served through the device, but, by theintensity of its light, will also visually indicate the heat variationeffects of the current as regulated by the rheostat.

In the use of the device, the control unit may be placed on a table orhung upon a wall (as shown in Fig. 1) in the vicinity of the place wherethe operator desires to make use of the waving iron, and is thenconnected with the servicecircuit by plugging the cable I! into the.input receptacle i2. If the service circuit is of the 116 volt capacity,the waving iron is connected to the control unit by inserting the cableplug contacts 49-50 into the contact terminal sockets 30-3i of theoutput plug receptacle 29. With the apparatus thus made ready foroperation on a 110 volt circuit, the operator may serve current undersuch control as will heat the tong legs of the iron to the desireddegree. Since the scale of dial 26 is calibrated to accord with movementof contact brush 24 relative to the rheostat coils 2i, so as to cut inor out of the circuit serving the heating elements of the iron thatamount of resistance adapted to regulate the served current to a desiredheat producing effect, the operatoir by manipulating and setting therheostat dial, may select and obtain that degree of iron temperaturebest suited'to the particular hair waving operation being carried on.The heating elements of the iron are, for example, so constructed thatwhen supplied with the full strength of a 110 volt current the iron willheat to a maximum of 90 degrees F. This maximum temperature may bestepped down by manipulation of the rheostat.

Since in many instances and in many places at which use of the iron lsdesired, a service circuit of 220 volt capacity is alone avallable as acurrent supply, the control unit has been constructed and arranged so asto be capable of use when connected with a supply of such character. Insuch case, the operator merely inserts the cable "plug contacts 49-50into the contact terminal sockets 30-32 of the output plug receptacle29. By such connection the secondary resistance 26 is included in theiron supply circuit, so that with rheostat cut out, the current servedto the iron heating elements will be modified to. effect the maximumheating of 90 degrees. The rheostat is, however, still included in thecircuit, and consequently this maximum temperature may be stepped downby manipulating the rheostat, as will be obvious.

From the above description of the instant invention, it will be apparentthat a very simple, efllcient and convenient control unit forelectrically heated hair waving irons is provided; the same being in aconvenient portable form so that it may be carried from place to place,if desired, and so that, in use, it may be so situated as to in no wayimpede the operator's manipulation of the iron, as operatively connectedtherewith. The arrangement therefore permits the use of a simple,light-weight and easily manipulated type of waving iron per se, sincethere is no necessity for encumbering the iron itself with anyregulating devices or bulky appurtenances. It will also be clearthat theiron may be served, through the control unit, with operating current,whether the current source is of 110 or 220 volt capacity, andconsequently use of the electrically heated iron need not be forgonebecause of the specific character of current supply in any given desiredplace of use.

I am aware that some changes could be made in the above describedconstruction, and many apparently widely different embodiments of thisinvention could be made without departing from the scope thereof asdefined in the following claims. It is therefore intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

I claim:-

1. A control means for an electrically heated hair waving iron having aflexible conductor cable and plug connection to serve current to itsheating elements, comprising a portable casing, a rheostat mountedwithin said casing, an actuating means for said rheostat including adial to indicate heat modifying eifects of the rheostat controlledcurrent, an input plug receptacle in a wall of said casing having a pairof contact sockets engageable by a plug connection of a cable conductorconnected with a source of current, one of said contact sockets beingconnected with the input side of said rheostat, a secondary resistancecoil mounted within said casing, an output plug receptacle in a wall ofsaid casing, said output receptacle having three equi-spaced and alignedcontact sockets, the output side of said rheostat being connected withthe center contact socket of said output receptacle, one outer contactsocket of said output receptacle being connected with the second contactsocket of said input receptacle, and the other outer contact socket ofsaid output receptacle being connected through said secondary resistancecoil to said second contact socket of said input receptacle, all wherebysaid center and a selected outer contact socket of said outputreceptacle may be selectively engaged by said iron cable plug connectionto connect the iron in series with said rheostat alone when the currentsource is of 110 volt capacity or in series with both said rheostat andsaid secondary resistance coil when the current is of 220 volt capacity.

2. A control means for electrically heated hair waving irons as definedin claim 1, wherein an external signal lamp is mounted on said casingand connected in series with said rheostat.

EMIL m: LOS SANTOS.

